NEW DSNG BOOK 18! [CLICK ON THE BANNER BELOW]

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Welcome back to DSNG's Sci Fi Megaverse!
Presented here are more recently done artworks, colored in Photoshop. The first one is a Batman commission, done for one of my buddies at Myspace. The second one is a Star Wars fanart pic, showing Jedi Master Shaak Ti [there's more artwork of her in my blog] and the third was done for the cover of my New sci fi e-book, DSNG CHRONICLES 3. The inked version of the Dark Knight pic is also shown below, as the forth entry.
The fifth and sixth pics are fanarts of Superman. And the last two are fanarts that I did last year for a friend of mine at Myspace.

Update on The DSNG E-Books !

DSNG CHRONICLES 3: THE KING'S MIGHT is available now at Amazon dot com, as a downloadable e-book. Price is $4.00. Here is the link to the Amazon e-store: DSNG Book 3 link

Some people really don't know what DSNG is all about. Its an epic sci fi tale, set in an alternate galaxy.
Contrived back in 1999 as a bunch of sketches, the story has grown over the years.

The entire series focuses on the noble Prince of Avera [Azzar Omenus]. And the DSNG books follow his adventures and those of his closest associates, who hail from planet Avera, a futuristic terrestrial world tagged with hi-tech innovations.

That worded poster above gives you a complete series overview, helping to introduce the concepts behind DSNG. In this blog, I've written several articles based upon the foundational elements of a sci fi tale. And you can rest assured that DSNG is a well thought-out story, presented as an epic unending saga; since the characters grow, fight, love, lie and die... not necessarily in that order, but I'm sure you get the picture.

As the tale unfolds, you get to see the results of keeping grudges and holding onto immense pride. And as a reader, you plainly witness the actions [both the good, the bad and the 'questionable'] and the results of the acts that the various characters willfully engage in.

DSNG Book 1 introduced the main characters and set the stage for the unfolding interactions. It commences with a brutal raid and a kidnapping conducted by the Gorilla rebel militia, upon a starport that is located on a foreign moon named Yantos. And from there, the good guys are taken by surprise as a diabolical plan contrived in the mind of the evil Overlord [The Lord of the Gorillas] unfolds.
Also, following a violent terrorist attack at night, a blatant assassination attempt upon the life of an Averan Commander leads to a showdown between Prince Azzar and one of the most notorious Blazers known across the four sectors of the Makuran galaxy named Kinera Foxx. And that battle amidst the heart of the city of Armania has a rippling effect throughout the rest of the book, as a sadistic quest for vengeance unfolds.

DSNG Book 2 kicks off at the heel of the premier release, and the Prince is confronted with a peculiar moral dilemma, tied to a beautiful woman who is in love with his best friend. Vince also embarks upon the arduous task of discovering the identity of the sponsor who had hired Kinera Foxx; and four famous women are highlighted as possible heartless antagonists...
Aboard a Hercules Cruiser that was launched from planet Taran, three peculiar individuals arrive on planet Avera at a busy international starport located in the continent of North Philadelphia. Two of them are undercover operatives, and one of them is a female surgeon named Ska-Myra. And despite the common calm demeanor that the three unrelated visitors sport, they each have distinct objectives that will lead to unforgettable events.

Also, there is a phenomenal battle that takes place between the sentient military AI of the Centura [called Bigboy] and the ruthless avionics AI of Kinera named Scar. The concept of thinking robotic minds is fully taken advantage of and a bewildering game of chess unfolds over the Merisanic Sea, as futuristic combat vehicles clash amidst a thundering shower of rainfall.

And DSNG Book 3 continues the action-packed drama, as a new sinister female villain rises to crest of the gritty underworld, to do what no man has ever done before...

What I've stated here is merely a summary of the first 3 volumes, since each book is over 500 pages. You get to see glimpses into the thought processes of the main characters in each story, and there are highly detailed explanations for the technologies utilized and the environments that are encountered in the futuristic world.
There are also engrafted elements of comedy and romance, and this explosive tale is actually rated M, for Mature audiences. Consider the fast paced action of the movie titled "The Matrix: Reloaded." DSNG is just as fast and furious, from start to finish.

You could call these books a Trilogy. But honestly, the story goes on further than the prologue of Book 3...

Azzar and Vince are super soldiers. They're both elite members of the Centura. Kinera is a female assassin, and she only strikes male targets. Chebeyah is Vince's girlfriend. And all these characters make their debut in DSNG Book1.

As shown above, Two alternate versions were created of the cover for Book 3, and only one of them made the cut. Although each e-novel can stand alone per its story structure, If you're new to this sci fi series, then you should probably read DSNG Book 1 before you dive into DSNG Book3.

As a super soldier, Prince Azzar has the rank of SCO [Senior Commanding Officer] of the Averan military forces. Planet Avera is a unified planet, having a monarchy established at the crest of the executive branch of its government. And the will of the Averan military [the Centura] is guided by two potent Generals, named Obed Primon and Wesley Ezen.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

There are some cartoon series that are just unforgettable. They leave blueprints in your psyche that always remind you of their essence, especially when you experienced them in your youth. Today we dive into the world created by Ted Wolf and the Rankin/Bass Productions studio. And we bravely forge into the tale of the Thundercats!
This was one of the best cross-over animated series to ever be launched, and in their world, futuristic technology and advanced gadgetry were just as central to the series as magic and myth. Yet even in the midst of all the explosive action, the series never overlooked the importance of maintaining high camaraderie and teamwork geared towards solving difficult problems.

[Image from the Thundercats Sourcebook, published by Dc Comics back in 2003]

This Exceptional Franchise was created as a cartoon series back in January of 1985, and it ran till 1990, having 130 episodes are earning over 100 million dollars in profits from endorsement deals. There were also several comic books spawned by this series and published by Marvel Comics [Via its Star Comics imprint], DC Comics and Wildstorm Comics at various times. And there was a sole cartoon movie launched between the first and second Seasons, titled Thundercats - Ho!

An Odyssey from their devastated Home world.
This Sci Fi / Fantasy cartoon series was set in an alternate galaxy. And the main protagonists, the sentient Thundercats, were survivors of a global catastrophe which eclipsed their home world of Thundera. Boarding a flagship spacecraft, the seven humanoids with distinct cat-related features were set in what you could tag as cybernetic-hibernation [cyb-hibe] tubes, to preserve their bodies as they traveled at light-speed across the stars. The Thundercats were also accompanied by Snarf, a talking pet. And Lion-O, the young chosen one, was to bear the treasured Sword of Omens and convey it away to safety. The rest of their spaceship fleet bearing the other inhabitants of their dying world were destroyed by their mutant enemies, as the race through deep-space progressed.

The seven survivors were like wanders embarking upon an uncharted trip to a brave new frontier. And their journey led them to the planet named Third Earth, where they crash-landed. Having abundant moisture and oxygen, this wondrous jungle world was teeming with other anamorphic life forms [animals with human-like phenotypes and features] and it became the new home for the gifted Thundercats, who built their base [famously known as Cats Lair] from remnants of their spacecraft with the help of the Robear Berbils and other hi-tech vehicles to enhance their offensive and defensive capabilities.

The Original Lion King!

The leader, and the hereditary "Lord of the ThunderCats," was called Lion-O.
Lion-O, who was based on the phenotype of a majestic Lion, wields the legendary Sword of Omens and the Claw Shield, a gauntlet that launches grappling lines from its claws. The Sword of Omens gave Lion-O the power of "Sight Beyond Sight," allowing him to achieve zoomed visions and even behold covert past events. And the sword could also project bolts of red energy.
A mere child of twelve years old at the time of Thundera's destruction, Lion-O aged to adulthood during the trip to Third Earth when his cyb-hibe capsule failed to prevent him from aging too much, like the other team members aboard the rocketing vessel. Although cunning and skillful, he is truly a child in a man's body. And throughout the series, he learns the true essence of what it takes to be dependable leader.

As Lion-O matured, he gained the ability to communicate with all wild cats, and this was demonstrated in an episode in which he battled a villain named The Snowman of Hook Mountain, who rode a large snowy battlecat.

By name, his clan members were: Tygra, Panthro, Cheetara, WilyKit, WilyKat and Snarf. And they each wielded specific weapons that matched their hand-to-hand combat abilities perfectly. When analyzed closely, it appears that the Thundercats all had ninja like weaponry; Lion-O had the sword [which held the Eye of Thundera in its central core, between its hilt and the base of the "living blade"], Cheetara had a bo-staff, Tygra had a whip, Panthro utilized nun-chuks and the younger cats used various smoke bombs and small tools.

Later in the series, a host of other male and female Thundercats were added to the clan, rescued from different dire circumstances.

Per some of the earlier episodes from the epic 4-Season run, it was hinted that Lion-O was truly the king of the pride; he had abilities that rivaled all of his team members, whether it was Panthro's brute strength or Cheetara's speed. Yet it was Tygra, that gave Lion-O his hardest challenge to overcome, because of the cunning and stealth powers that the Tiger Man possessed.

Jaga, the original Lord of the Thundercats and wielder of the Sword of Omens, did not survive the trip to Third Earth aboard their spacecraft. Yet he constantly appeared as a spirit to guide Lion-O in the series, and he often appeared to the other team members to give them words of wisdom and counsel.

The intriguing episodes carried the Thundercats across the varied landscapes of Third Earth, and there were even expeditions that took them to the stars, as they combated against space pirates. The supporting cast for this series was extremely large, having additional heroes and villains that created exciting confrontations and unforgettable encounters.

Some modern artists may even consider the Thundercats as the first successful Action-packed Furry Franchise, since furry/anamorphic art is tied to drawing animals with human-like structures. This anthropomorphic interpretation has become widespread over the years, and there have been several cartoons having characters based upon crossbred species. One of the most recent visions featuring this style of character design is Hot Wheels Battle Force 5, a CGI animated series created in 2009, in which the villains are based upon a variety of anamorphs.

The Eccentric Villain

The main protagonist of the series was an evil mummified warlord named Mumm-Ra, who resided in an ancient mystical pyramid-like temple in the dark lands of Third Earth.

Mumm-Ra was the the self-proclaimed "ever-living source of evil" on Third Earth, having powers of sorcery and an apparently unlimited lifespan. He wielded powers sourced from "Ancient Spirits of Evil" and he commanded the numerous hordes of the beast and reptilian-like mutant men.

There were several design and artistic themes that made Mumm-Ra appear to be part of an ancient Egyptian civilization that was probably extinct, there on Third Earth. And the fact that Mumm-Ra constantly slumbered within a stone sarcophagus, wrapped in burial cloths reinforced this notion.

He was quite a notoriously powerful villain, and he possessed an insidiously evil laugh. Yet being a cartoon bad guy, there were several instances in which he provided comedic exchanges while plotting evil schemes and convening with his subservient henchmen.

The Wildstorm Comic series actually has Mumm-Ra heralding as an adviser of Pharaoh, in an ancient Egyptian setting [before he becomes an evil traitor and is literally buried alive, for over six centuries]. There was definitely a lot of time and effort put into creating that tale. But the only problem was... Mumm-Ra was from Third Earth, not our planet Earth, according to the original animated series.

The Leap from animation to the Big Screen...

There have been many rumors of this highly anticipated move, over the last decade.

It was announced on June 5, 2007, that Aurelio Jaro was making a CGI-animated feature film of ThunderCats, based on a script written by Paul Sopocy. In October 2007, Variety magazine revealed that Jerry O'Flaherty, a veteran video game art director, had signed on to direct the movie. The film was being produced by Spring Creek Productions. It was originally set for a summer 2010 release, but it has since been reported that the movie is on hold [for unspoken reasons]. Concept art for the film has also been leaked online, like this piece:

And that particular Thundercats 3D animated movie project was canceled.
Honestly, that full-body pic didn't look as "hardcore" as the true fanboys and fangirls expected. Lion-O was known for his ruggedly handsome features, and he definitely had the muscles to back up anything he said.

Thus, this other fan art [shown below] appears to be along the lines of what fans would expect to see [although this one might be pushing the envelope a bit too much, in terms of the fierce "wild cat" aura]:

A rumor regarding a new revamped animated series based on the popular Cats has also been swirling on the web, dating back to last year. and some claimed that the project was being creatively handled overseas.

The word is, this new cartoon, created in an anime style, is going to be darker than the original, in terms of lighting and creative design. Studio4C is responsible for creating the following series: The Animatrix, Batman: Gotham Knight, Halo: Legends and apparently all of Transformers: Animated.

So they've definitely got an impressive resume [and a peculiar array of production styles that they can fluently draw from, to generate a wide variety of vibes that range form childish to hardcore].

Fans of the original series will definitely want to see the entire original cast; that's only natural, per the exhilarating nostalgia perceived from a perfectly done classic. Yet specific details on the project are still very sketchy at this time.

Once there are more details on the new Thundercats cartoon project, we shall analyze them and see if its worth the budding hype...

Friday, October 22, 2010

Back in 1990, Arnold Schwarzenegger stared in a sci fi movie title Total Recall, which was based upon a book by classic author Phillip K. Dick [the same guy who wrote the book for "I, Robot"]. In this futuristic feature, a construction worker named Douglas Quaid [played by Arnold] is relocated from Mars to Earth and after he recovers from some sort of amnesia, he becomes a freedom fighter and travels back to mars, where he strives to liberate a colony on that planet from an evil narcissistic dictator.

The thing is, Douglas is NOT a Martian... he's a poor hard-working guy with bulging muscles who just wants a vacation. So at the onset of the movie, he goes to a company called Rekall, and requests that they provide an induced memory program for his mind, which will give him the vacation of his dreams.

At the dream induction center of Rekall corp, Douglas pays for a Mars experience, including aspects of being a secret agent and discovering alien artifacts. When Rekall reps attempt to implant the memories, they find he already appears to have undergone a previous memory replacement procedure. Something happens to Douglas' mind amidst the procedures.... and suddenly, believing himself to be a secret agent whose cover has just been blown, Douglas attacks the medical staff until he is sedated. They quickly restore his memory (undoing Rekall's changes only; Quaid still has his previous false memories) and send him home.

He's attacked on his way home by mysterious bad guys [sponsored by a guy named Richter]. When he gets home, he finds out that his wife, Lori, and other goons are out to kill him. Douglas subdues Lori and she makes confessions to him, informing him that his life has been a lie for the past 2 months, based upon false memories.

Douglas Quaid escapes his home, pursued by Richter, and eventually encounters a man that claims to be a former friend and gives him a briefcase. A tool inside the box allows Douglas to remove a tracking device implanted in his skull, throwing Richter off track. The briefcase also contains a prerecorded video of himself with identity revelations; however, in this video, Douglas calls himself "Hauser", revealing that he used to work for an evil Mars administrator named Vilos Cohaagen, but he [Hauser] went undercover and implanted the "Douglas Quaid" personality to cover his tracks. The video of Hauser insists that Quaid should travel to Mars and deliver the information stored in his mind to the authorities to bring down Cohaagen.

And thus the expedition back to Mars begins, and all hell breaks loose.
This fan-made trailer by AlexFruen on Youtube was expertly done, and it will give you visual summary of what I've described thus far.

At the very end, Douglas defeats Cohaagen, but there is no "dream resolution scene"... so fans really are left in the dark about what part of the whole thing is just the imagined vacation, and what segments are actually real.

The Forthcoming Total Recall Remake!

Now, fast-forward about 10 years into the future, from the launch of that movie. And the word is a reboot of that high-octane sci fi feature is moving forward steadily, with casting rumors flooding the web.

Actually, a sequel was written in the late 90s, titled Total Recall 2 and it was roughly based upon a book titled The Minority Report, [which was also authored by Phillip K. Dick]. that movie never materialized with Arnold at the helm. Instead, Tom Cruise got the role and a heavily rewritten script. And that movie directed by Steven Spielberg did very well in 2002.

But in 2009, it was announced that Columbia Pictures had hired Kurt Wimmer to write a script for the remake [and not a sequel] of Total Recall.
And as of Thursday, October 21, 2010, Hollywoodreporter.com has stated tat Colin Farrel is the guy at the top of the list to star as Douglas Quaid. Runners up for the lead role are Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender.

Colin [Irish dude] stared in Alexander back in 2004. Tom Hardy [a cool british dude] recently co-stared in Inception, in 2010. And Michael [another Irish dude] stared most recently in Inglorious Bastards. He was also in the movie 300 [as the soldier named Stelios], and he will star in Xmen: First Class [as the young Magneto].
If you pay attention to male phenotypes and trained physical builds, you'll note that Colin is the least muscular guy of the three choices, yet he was given priority in playing a role that was immortalized by Arnold Schwarzenegger....

Here is a featurette clip from the movie Inception. To see Tom Hardy in action, focus on the section titled "The Forger", and look for the guy with a British accent.

Anyway, Colin hasn't signed on the dotted line just yet. He's just the first choice thus far. No offers have been made for anyone to star in the movie, which is looking at a late March 2011 filming start with Len Wiseman directing behind the camera, and Neal Moritz and his Original Film banner producing.

We will keep an eye on this one and see how things pan out.

**EDIT - UPDATED MOVIE NEWS**

As of April 2011, Colin Farrell is fully on-board to star in the Total Recall remake. And at the San Diego Comic Con held in July 2011, there was a display in the convention center showcasing some of the cool props from the forthcoming movie [which according to the director, will have some distinctions in its plot and the focal nations that distinguish it from the previous tale that was set primarily on Mars]. Here are pics from that presentation and the last image showcases Collin Farrell and the rest of the main cast.

According to reports from Geektyrant.com, "...The preview footage they showed [at the 2011 Comic Con this year] feels like it's a mix of Blade Runner,The Matrix, with a touch of Minority Report, the level of detail is staggering..."
"...The director Len Wiseman shares that he loves shooting things in camera verses going it CG. Even the anamatics they displayed were very visually rich and highly detailed..."

Friday, October 15, 2010

Recent digital artwork I did. Colored in PhotoshopCS3. Character is the time-traveling mutant, Cable, from the Xmen [or X-men]. He's the son of Cyclops and Madelyn Pryor in the future. Not sure if he's from an alternate timeline, but that really doesn't matter right now.
I may add more artwork to this particular entry... we'll see...

Cable is owned by Marvel Comics.

Shaaki Ti [below] is owned by George Lucas & LucasFilm. She's a Jedi Master, and she's one of the few Jedi that survived the execution of "Order-66", in the 3rd Star Wars movie titled "Revenge of the Sith". Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda were survivors as well.

More portfolio samples are available here in my blog, just follow these links:

Summarized From Nymag.com -- DreamWorks Pictures is renewing its efforts to obtain the rights and revive the project, which has been in a state of suspended animation since late 2006. It's obvious why this property seems even more valuable now. Halo: Reach grossed $200 million on its very first day in release last month, making it 2010's best-selling game. But after Fox and Universal already dumped millions of dollars into developing the project only to come up with nothing, why does DreamWorks seem so intent on trying, and how will they steal away with this franchise without getting sucked into the other two studios' money pit?

Well folks, let's back up and take a complete Halo history lesson:

Five years ago, when former Columbia Pictures president Peter Schlessel first championed the project, he deliberately began working outside the studio system, hoping to avoid the development psychodrama that ruins and stalls so many adaptations. He got Microsoft to pay screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later) a million dollars to fashion an original Halo script before even a single Hollywood studio had signed on to finance or distribute the movie.
[Cool Halo art on the right, above, was created by http://www.geodex.deviantart.com/]

In a theatrical flourish, Creative Artists Agency, the firm representing the lucrative project, dispatched messengers dressed as Halo protagonist Master Chief — yes, wearing space helmets — with copies of Garland’s script to all six major studios. Their asking price: A whopping $10 million against 15 percent of the grosses. For Microsoft, it was all upside and virtually no risk. But then again, the franchise had already sold $600 million worth of video games at that time.

Citing Microsoft’s disproportionate reward for a nearly total lack of risk, most studios (including DreamWorks at the time) passed over the game franchise. Both Fox and Universal were interested, but decided that rather than bidding against each other, they’d partner on the film.

In what was the largest intellectual property deal in the history of the movie business, the two rival studios finally agreed to pay $5 million to option Halo and pay Microsoft 10 % of its eventual theatrical gross — Universal would oversee production and distribute the movie in the States, and Fox would release the film overseas, but both studios would share revenues 50/50.
Sadly, as with so many Hollywood marriages, their partnership would barely last a year.

The Politically Inclined Movie-Making Drama Unfolds...

The trouble began with the hire of director Peter Jackson as a producer. Under Universal Pictures chairman Stacey Snider’s tenure, Jackson had earned the highest salary ever paid to a film director in advance of production, $20 million against 20 percent of the theatrical grosses for Universal's remake of King Kong.

In the late summer of 2005, Universal production president Mary Parent had seen a six-minute short, Alive in Joburg, by South African director Neil Blomkamp, who would go on to make District 9. Soon after, she approached Jackson about mentoring Blomkamp on Halo. Jackson soon agreed to the idea, and by October 2005, his involvement was officially announced. [Game art above is courtesy of Microsoft].

After Universal Pictures chairman Stacey Snider stepped down in February 2006, her replacements, David Linde and Marc Shmuger, agreed to keep Jackson’s rich deal in place: A hefty slice of the Halo grosses would go to Jackson for supervising the neophyte Blomkamp, even though 10 percent of Halo's gross was already promised to Microsoft.

But by September 2006, there was no definite script, and production costs were climbing steadily.
By October 2006, with another option payment looming for Universal, the two Fox Chairmen [Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos] insisted the original first-dollar deals for Peter Jackson, his producing partner Fran Walsh, and original producer Peter Schlessel all be scrapped, or Fox would walk.

Suddenly facing the loss of its much-needed partner on a massive $135 million blockbuster, Universal Studios—having already spent millions to option the project and employ Jackson, Walsh, and Blomkamp for the better part of a year—was forced to issue an ultimatum to Peter Jackson and co, which would literally cut down their fat pay checks.

Of course, Peter Jackson and the two other guys refused that offer, claiming that they'd already wasted a year of their lives prepping the movie, and they wanted their f#%king money [LOL].

[Above: Halo Wallpaper showing the Sci Fi Spartan soldiers]

And despite the fact that Universal had already spent $12 million in screenwriting and production fees, and despite threatened law suits between the two studios, the Halo movie [which still had no solid script] fizzled out like a dying flame.

But Alas, time has healed old wounds, and DreamWorks studio [headed by Steven Spielberg] is now taking the reigns to produce a Halo movie, which will hopefully evolve into a trilogy... and DreamWorks reps have already hinted that it will be based upon COMPLETELY DIFFERENT MATERIAL than the previous movie prduction/script-writing failure that got Fox and Universal execs staring daggers at each other.
By doing that, DreamWorks will boycott any sort of financial liability that Universal lawyers could possibly conjure, in an attempt to gain back the "lost $12 million".

So will it finally Happen? Will Master Chief make the heroic leap from the game screen to the big screen? We shall just have to wait and see if DreamWorks can come up with a solid script... hopefully within the next 12 months.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

DC Comics Strives to push forward
According to the Hollywoodreporter.com, the execs and directors of Warner Brothers [who own DC Comics] are striving to make a leap of faith in the forthcoming years... and this is going to be one hell of a leap...
_____________________________________________________________________________

October 8th, 2010 NEW YORK -- Warner Bros. is likely to release one or two DC Entertainment superhero movies a year to help pick up the slack after the Harry Potter franchise comes to an end, DC chief creative officer Geoff Johns said Friday.

Asked at a crowded session at New York Comic-Con about how many post-Potter DC tentpoles fans should expect, the fanboy-favorite writer said: "You will see at least one, I'd expect two a year."

He didn't mention a specific start time for this release strategy.

Warner executives have previously signalled that the recent DC reorganization will help it better mine the company's catalog of superheroes in the post-Potter age.

Johns on Friday also told the fanboys and fangirls that "Green Lantern" is in post-production, and a trailer for the movie will be part of the upcoming "Harry Potter" release.

Johns, who was warmly and fondly received by the crowd, answered questions without discussing or confirming specific superhero film plans beyond the upcoming June release of "Green Lantern" and announced new Batman and Superman films.

For example, asked if he could confirm that "Green Lantern" is planned as a film trilogy, he replied, "Can't comment."

And asked if he could confirm an expected "Flash" movie that hasn't been formally announced, Johns said he couldn't discuss that. He summarized that "there is a ton of stuff we've talked about," and added
he expects announcements "very, very soon."
_____________________________________________________________________________

All right, Geoff Johns said a whole lot at the convention, but I think he also said too little.
Most of the info that the DC Comics Chief Creative Officer presented was already known. But of course, he's just the mailman for his firm, and we shouldn't shoot the messenger.

So who should we target for the lack of fantastic blockbuster movies based upon DC Comics characters over the past 3 years?
A couple of issues come to mind. Some people are unaware of the effect that the strike instigated by the writers guild over on the West Coast had upon plans for DC Comics to produce a feature film based on the Justice League heroes, a few years ago. The directors were in the process of casting for about 5 to 7 individuals to play the heroes when things literally froze. And the fresh actors tagged for Superman, WonderWoman, Flash etc all had to move on to other dynamic projects, rather than sit and wait for the movie writers to end their strike. Also, with the stretched-out legal wars going on for the Superman character/brand name, Warner Bros have been reluctant to push that project forward hastily [until very recently, as they've now chosen a director for the sequel to Superman Returns]. You can read the article I wrote about this over here: Blog link

A WonderWoman film was also proposed at one point a few years ago, but things fizzled out rapidly like a candle tossed in the snow, based on what could be politely tagged as "creative differences".

Hopefully we'll get into a more detailed discussion about WW and the most recent plans on table for that franchise soon.

Reflections on the Statements from the DC Comics CCO.

During his presentation, Geoff Johns seems to have pointed out the fact that Harry Potter has been the major focus of WB studios. And that's something that we can't really argue with. When a studio rides high on a profitable franchise, they just keep milking that cow for all its worth. Why stop making HP movies when each one brings in over 200 million dollars domestically? And why risk doing a superhero movie in between successful HP releases?

FYI: Back in 1998, author JK Rowling sold the rights to her Harry Potter books to Warner Bros for approximately 1 million pounds [which was approximately 1.9 million dollars]. And the WB have been gaining a LOT of profit from that franchise ever since. I haven't watched all their movies, but I once took a glance at it when the 3rd instalment aired on cable TV. And I quickly realized that it was "a Matrix for little kids" , per the comprehensive nature of the production.

On the other hand, Beyond what a lot of fanboys/girls believe, superhero movies are not always successful ventures. There are a couple of them that have literally struck oil, and others that have bombed [becoming explosive disasters].

Does anyone remember the sci fi film titled Ultraviolet , released in 2006? How about The Spirit , which hit theaters on Christmas day back in 2008?

﻿Neither of those movies did well.

Ultraviolet starred Mila Jovovich [the main chick in the Resident evil Movies franchises] and it grossed 31 million, earning just 1 million higher than its production budget. I got to see it on Sy Fy Channel, and then I realised that it was just... overdone. The heroine was doing stuff that would best be presented in an epic 3D-animation feature; like riding a motorcycle vertically up the side of a towering office building to escape a combat helicopter, and standing in the center of a gang of 20 black-suited men with handguns drawn at her head on the top of a skyscraper. She survived all those ordeals - and the 20 men surrounding her on the rooftop ended up killing themselves, because she ducked, swerved and dodged ALLLLL their bullets.

And The Spirit just... sucked:

It was based on a comic book by Will Eisner and the directing/screenplay was done by Frank Miller [the guy who produced 300]. It cost about 53 million to make, and ended up grossing 39 million - and that's its world-wide total.
And it was creatively tied to DC Comics...

Events like that present hard lessons to execs and business directors. And Hollywood has realized over the years that not every comic book transitions smoothly into a successful movie.

So exactly what will DC Comics produce in the forthcoming years? A Green Lantern Sequel? A JSA/Justice League feature? Or even a Teen Titans movie? Guess we'll just have to wait and see. And while we wait, Marvel will keep entertaining us with their comic-to-movie features.

I'll leave you with this trailer featuring the DC Universe online video game. If this sort of animated cinematography can be converted into a live action movie, featuring a host of DC comic characters, then Warner Brothers will definitely have a boat-load of profit coming their way...

These are more recent works that I did. My focus is advancing more towards a digital painting style. I've been getting a ton of inspiration from the pros at http://conceptartworld.com/ . In the first pic showcased, I've done a character from the City of Heroes online gaming franchise, created by NCsoft. His name is The Statesman. The pose I've utilized is a classic iconic setup, made famous by professional artist Jim Lee [co-publisher of DC comics and owner of Wildstorm comics]. Jim's drafted Superman pose is presented over here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman

The second poster done [below] is showcasing a night-time scenery that represents the sort of sci fi setting in the DSNG series. The chosen venue is New Davenport, one of the mega states [a continental landmass comprised of several other smaller states]. The sense of height and depth is fused with speed and tremendous momentum, as the hyper jet races through the cityscape. As a comic artist, I presented a peculiar perspective shot, just to enhance the dynamic nature of the scene. The brilliance of the towering e-billboards and Ads within the shot are a sure sign of a futuristic setting, because even in the most popular cities on earth these days, you don't have animated Ads placed at heights over 150 stories from the ground.

Advertising at that towering level is only necessary when you have dense traffic/commuters flocking and zooming back and forth high above the ground level of the city. Its a sign of the advanced infrastructural layout in a society that has mastered hi-tech construction and transportation techniques.
And the question you should consider when looking at this pic is "So what's the aerial speed limit?"....

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

I did these pencil sketches a while ago. Most of these charcters are owned by Marvel Inc. And most of them are never-before-seen illustrations... The very last pic in this set was also inked and digitally colored, in my previous blog post. If you have a question on the characters or you're interested in a commission, just leave a comment below. My contact email is chdnxt @ yahoo dot com. If I ever delay in responding through yahoo, then drop me a note through the message center at the facebook fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-art-of-Dsng/166224470060382

These are some digital works that I recently did. I Penciled them and colored them in PS CS3. I purposely strived to ensure that they each have sci fi themes intertwined into them. For inquiries on digital coloring, my contact email address is chdnxt @ yahoo dot com.

There are several other portfolio coloring samples in this sci fi blog; you just have to search for them, in the Blog archives. But there is a special Blog view that allows you to see all the archives dating back to May 2010 in one single glance. Check out this version of the Blog Homepage, best viewed with Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome: http://dsngsfm.blogspot.com/view/flipcard